Guwahati, Dec 19: A strategic meeting, chaired by Assam housing and urban affairs minister Ashok Singhal here on Tuesday, unfolded the ‘ten cities development concept’ undertaken by the housing and urban affairs department as a special step towards planned and prompt development of urban areas in the state.
Participants of the meeting expressed their views on proper urban planning, solid waste management, clean and regular water supply, public infrastructure, traffic management, street lights, and the implementation of green-blue elements such as open spaces, parks and water bodies in the cities.
Official sources said that the cities to be included in the ambit of concept include Silchar, Dibrugarh, Nagaon, Bongaigaon, Biswanath Chariali, Karimganj, Tinsukia, Golaghat, Jorhat, Tezpur, Sivasagar and North Lakhimpur.
The meeting was also attended by state finance minister Ajanta Neog; labour and employment minister Sanjay Kishan, and eight MLAs representing various constituencies.
Commissioner and secretary, housing and urban affairs department, Kavitha Padmanabhan, explained the concept of ‘Doh Shaher, Ek Rupayan’ in detail during a presentation. Emphasis was also placed on manpower rationalisation and capacity building, delivering municipal services online or digitally, and strengthening financial infrastructure in specific cities.
The proposed towns are slated for comprehensive improvement across various domains. Under the City Infrastructure Development Fund (CIDF), initiatives include the establishment of a conference hall, city beautification, open-air theatre, pavilions, traffic control system, convention centre, chowk bazar, sports complex, and the enhancement of water bodies.
The Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) of the state government focuses on the convention centre, town hall, park cum open space, ISBT and the beautification of public areas.
The directorate of municipal administration will oversee street lights and paver-block streets. Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and State-owned Priority Development (SoPD), the emphasis has been on water supply, rejuvenation of water bodies and the development of parks.
Similarly, the Swachh Bharat Mission encompasses initiatives such as door-to-door collection of solid waste, waste processing, and waste disposal at dumping grounds, etc.
Legislators Hitendra Nath Goswami (Jorhat), Phani Bhushan Chowdhury (Bongaigaon), Prasanta Phukan (Dibrugarh), Pramod Barthakur (Biswanath), Prithviraj Rabha (Tezpur), Rupak Sharma (Nagaon), Manav Deka (Lakhimpur) and Dipayan Chakraborty (Silchar) were present at the meeting.
Besides, the chairperson and vice-chairpersons of Bongaigaon, Biswanath Chariali, Karimganj, Nagaon, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar and North Lakhimpur Municipal Boards and top officials of the housing and urban affairs department, directorate of municipal administration, AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), directorate of town and country planning, etc, also were present during the meeting.
